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The Livonia Churchill varsity softball team poses with their coach Abe Vinitski on April 9 - before practice. The team will be holding two fundraiser charity games for their coach who has severe kidney disease - on April 15 and 17. John Heider | hometownlife.com

The Livonia Churchill varsity softball team warms up on April 9 at their home field off Newburgh. The team is planing some charity fundraiser games on April 15th and 17th for their coach Abe Vinitski who has severe kidney disease. John Heider | hometownlife.com

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The annual charity game between the Livonia Churchill and Livonia Stevenson softball teams is just around the corner.

This year, the event will mean a little bit more to Churchill coach Abe Vinitski, who has been diagnosed with stage four kidney disease and is need of a kidney transplant.

Vinitski and Stevenson coach Kevin Hannigan chose Ann Arbor's Gift of Life as this year's charity, which is the state's only federally-designated organ and tissue recovery program, providing all services necessary for organ donation to occur in Michigan.

"The idea is not so much to raise awareness that I need a kidney, it's more about raising awareness about if more people understood what it meant to give a kidney or part of a liver, they can live completely normal lifestyles and help thousands of people," Vinitski said. "There's probably 3,000 people on the donor list in Michigan right now waiting for a kidney."

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Livonia Churchill softball coach Abe Vinitski hits some fly balls for his team to field. (Photo: John Heider | hometownlife.com)

Since Churchill and Stevenson play twice this season, the charity event will take place over two days: Monday, April 15 at Stevenson and Wednesday, April 17 at Churchill. JV games will start at 4 p.m. and Varsity will play afterwards, at 5:30 p.m.

Each game will feature a 50/50 raffle, charity gift baskets, education tables and will have representatives taking donations. Concession profits will be donated to Gift of Life as well. The teams are hoping to raise between $2,000-$3,000.

The charity game started several years ago, when former Churchill coach Steve Gentilia's father passed away suddenly from a heart attack. That year, the schools raised money for the American Heart Association. The teams have also supported breast cancer awareness and autism groups in recent years.

Vinitski, who is 47, has three daughters that have gone through the Livonia school system. His middle daughter played for Gentilia and graduated last year, having played one season for her dad. Despite the diagnosis and her daughter graduating, Vinitski stayed on as Churchill's coach. He acknowledged the emotional impact the disease has had on himself and his family, but is thankful to have softball to take his mind off things.

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The Livonia Churchill varsity softball team poses with their coach Abe Vinitski on April 9 - before practice. The team will be holding two fundraiser charity games for their coach who has severe kidney disease - on April 15 and 17. (Photo: John Heider | hometownlife.com)

"It's a lot," Vinitski said. "The diagnosis is definitely difficult to wrap your brain around, but the prognosis is positive. If we're able to find a live donor, people live 25 years with donated organs. When you take a step back and put everything in perspective, softball has been a conduit for me to take my mind off of it. I love the competition."

He is on the donor list at the University of Michigan health system, where he receives care. His doctors want him to live with his own kidneys for as long as he can, and even though he is on the transplant list, would not receive a kidney tomorrow, since his own kidneys are still working well enough. The disease isn't reversible, however, so he will need a kidney at some point, whether it's in a year, five years or longer.

He added that he's lucky to have the support system he does, and that his wife — who is not a kidney match — kids, friends and team have been especially great.

"We really want to use softball as an avenue to educate people about this topic. The team has been incredibly supportive. A couple of weeks ago was national kidney day and you're supposed to wear orange, so the kids all wore orange to practice one day and completely surprised me. Parents and kids have been absolutely tremendous."

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The Livonia Churchill varsity softball team warms up on April 9. (Photo: John Heider | hometownlife.com)

Churchill and Stevenson have often played for the city championship over the last several years, and that could be the case again this season. By all accounts, both games should be close and competitive.

"Stevenson returns a lot of players," Vinitski said. "We're young and aggressive but they're going to be a little more veteran. It'll be a really good game. Kevin knows it, I know it. We look forward to this game every year."

Reach Andrew Vailliencourt at availlienc@hometownlife.com, 810-923-0659 or on Twitter at @AndrewVcourt.